Analysis of Sarah Orne Jewett’s text adapted from “A White Heron”

1. Analysis of Sarah Orne Jewett’s text adapted from “A White Heron” "A human being is a part of a whole, called by us _universe_, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."  -Albert Einstein By Stephanie Riley and Michelle Gary

2. What or Theme Statement • The author dramatizes the young heroine’s adventure by showing that in order to satisfy the call of nature, you must become one with it.

3. “How” or Literary Elements • Narrative Pace • Denotation • Tone/Tone shifts • Diction • Cacophonous words • Euphonious words • Metaphors • Syntax • Point of View • Personification • Simile • Sentence Structure • Exclamatory sentence • Alliteration

4. A slow narrative pace thoroughly describes the surroundings while setting up a leisurely pace and contributes to the carefree tone. • Lines 1-7: “Half a mile from home, at the farther edge of the woods, where the land was highest, a great pine-tree stood, the last of its generation. Whether it was left for a boundary mark, or for what reason, no one could say; the woodchoppers who had felled its mates were dead and gone long ago, and a whole forest of sturdy trees, pines and oaks and maple, had grown again…” (Line 1-15)

5. The denotation of “Sylvia” is a subtle hint toward the meaning of the work uncovered by the irony • Its ironic that the little girl’s name is Sylvia, which is close to the name and word Sylvan • Sylvan - one that lives in or frequents in woods • Sylvan – a rare female Latin name meaning “of the forest”

6. The first two paragraphs create a carefree and adventurous tone, purposefully downplaying the difficulty of the journey and introducing the girls curiosity and first call to nature. • Tone 1: Playful and Adventurous • Lines 10 and 11: “She had always believed that whoever climbed to the top could see the ocean” • Line 13: “Looked up wistfully at those dark boughs” • Lines 17 and 18: “Sylvia began with utmost bravery to mount to the top of it” • Lines 18 and 19: “With tingling, eager blood coursing the channels of her whole frame”

7. Cacophonous diction shows her lack of understanding of the obstacle presented before her. She charges towards the call of nature head first without thinking about the risks. -Line 16: “There was the huge tree asleep yet in the paling moonlight and small and silly Sylvia began with utmost bravery to mount to the top of it, with tingling, eager blood coursing the channels of her whole frame.” -Line 25: “…and a red squirrel ran to and fro and scolded pettishly at the harmless housebreaker.” Line 37: “…The sharp dry twigs caught and held her and scratched her like angry talons, the pitch made her thin little fingers clumsy and stiff as she went round and round the tree’s great stem…”

8. Contrasting diction and word choices helps the reader contrast the big tree’s personality with Sylvia’s.

9. The use of metaphors and similes make the challenge presented before Sylvia a reality. Line 37: “…the sharp dry twigs caught and held her and scratched her like angry talons.” -Harsh simile: challenge swallows little girl -Switch from day dreaming attitude to one of realization Line 20: “…with her bare feet and fingers, that pinched and held like a bird’s claws to the monstrous ladder reaching up, up, almost to the sky itself.” -Clawing at tree: Struggle -Shows that the task was much harder than she expected.

10. The syntax of the passage overwhelms the reader with long and involved sentences just like Sylvia was overwhelmed with the challenge. Continued long and involved sentences. Line 35: “She crept out along the swaying oak limb at last, and took the daring step across into the old pine-tree. The way was harder than she thought; she must reach far and hold fast, the sharp dry twigs caught and held her like angry talons, the pitch made her thin little fingers clumsy and stiff as she went round and round the tree’s great stem.”

11. By writing in third person for both the tree and Sylvia, the tree is personified, which foreshadows Sylvia’s future convergence with the nature and begins to end the tone of fear and frustration. Third person omniscient Sylvia: -Line 38: “…the pitch made her thin little fingers clumsy and stiff as she went round and round the tree’s great stem…” Tree: -Line 43: “…it must truly have been amazed that morning through all its ponderous frame as it felt this determined spark of human spirit creeping and climbing from higher branch to branch.” Ellipses is used in Line 40 to show a shift in point of view.

12. The anxious tone plays an important role in showing the reader that there is a conflict between Sylvia and nature • Lines 35 through 38: “The way was harder than she thought; she must reach far and hold fast, the sharp dry twigs caught and held her and scratched like angry talons…” • The simile “like angry talons” adds to the tension of the tone

13. Diction reveals the tone shift from anxious to triumphant and peaceful, emphasizing the importance of becoming one with nature in order to answer the call • Cacophonous • Lines 26 to 39 • “Scolded” • “Pettishly • “Chafed” • “Sharp” • “Dry” • “Scratched” • “Stiff” • Euphonious • Lines 43 to 60 • “Voyaging” • “Ponderous” • “Dawn” • “Golden” • “Feathers”

14. Point of View takes part in subtly showing that Sylvia has become one with the nature, particularly the tree • 3rd Person Omniscient: Sylvia and Tree • The perspective of the tree comes in at the tone shift • Shows how Sylvia has become one with nature • “It was like a great main-mast to the voyaging each: it must truly have been amazed that morning through all its ponderous fame as it felt this determined spark of human spirit creeping and climbing from higher branch to higher branch. Who knows how steadily the last twigs held themselves to advantage this light, weak creature on her way! The old pine must have loved his new dependent” (Lines 42 through 48) • The next paragraph (Line 55) starts off with “Sylvia’s face was like a pale star….and she stood trembling…”

15. Personification shows how the tree and the girl are working together to overcome the conflict and satisfy the call of nature as they unite • Throughout paragraph four, “It” and “his” refers to the tree • Lines 43 and 44: “Itmust truly have been amazed” • Lines 45 and 46: “It felt this determined spark of human spirit” • Line 49: “The old pine must have loved his new dependent”

16. The similes in the passage mark the point where the tree is beginning to converge with the Sylvia and when she has finally succeeded in her quest as she answers the call to nature • Lines 41 to 43: “The tree seemed to lengthen itself out as she went upward. It was like a great main-mast to the voyaging earth” • Line 55: “Sylvia’s face was like a pale star.

17. The use of one exclamatory sentence throughout the whole piece marks the point in the adventure where the girl and the tree have completely bonded. • Line 47 through 49 • “Who knows how steadily the least twigs held themselves to advantage this light, weak creature on her way!”

18. The triumphant tone is emphasized using an alliteration at the climax of the story • Lines 58 to 59 describe Sylvia’s victory: “When the last thorny bough was past and she stood trembling and tired but wholly triumphant, high in the tree-tops.” • “t” words • “Trembling,” “tired,” “triumphant,” “tree-tops”

19. Connection: The Scarlet Letter • The Scarlet Letter Theme: Man vs. Natural World • “All these giant trees and boulders of granite seemed intent on making a mystery of the course of this small brook; fearing, perhaps, that, with its never-ceasing loquacity, it should whisper tales out of the heart of the old forest whence it flowed, or mirror its revelations on the smooth surface of the pool.” • –From Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter • The Scarlet Letter describes nature like it would a character. Nature is personified to listen, comment on, and interact with other characters. Nature provides a beautiful almost magical escape and has an element of the unknown that calls out to the characters and provides them with an escape.